


Power

by CaptainGan



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: And just how unfortunate and bad luck ridden it is, Basically what happens when the Demon King actually thinks about his lot in life, But also acknowledges that it sucks, Gen, So he justifies it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-06 17:25:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5425541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainGan/pseuds/CaptainGan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ganondorf dwells on the peculiarities of possessing Power, and the effect it has had on his life and ultimate goals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Power

At times when Ganondorf’s mind found a rare space of quiet where he could truly give a moment to his thoughts, he was silently glad that Wisdom was not the virtue he had been bestowed with.

After all, he had lived through many cycles, had fought many different iterations of heroes, and had imprisoned many Zeldas. Power seemed to have the odd quality of preserving his memories through each incarnation, allowing him to build upon his skills and knowledge from previous lives and experiences. As a result, he had been able to observe and analyze many of the bearers of Wisdom, and was always fascinated with their demeanor. Every move of theirs was well calculated, every word was pondered upon deeply before being imparted, and every step the Hero took was dictated by the hand of Wisdom, no matter how vigilant his watch on any Zelda was. It seemed as if their entire lives were spent dwelling on past events and all the possible outcomes of what the future would bring. He often wondered if Wisdom really ever knew true peace, even after he was vanquished. He highly doubted that someone with such a preoccupied mind, one who was consistently thinking and worrying, could ever find true happiness and a quiet, idle mind. 

Not that it bothered him in the least; he considered it a twisted form of poetic justice, a conclusion only an erratic and anger-filled mind such as his own could come to. If anything, it brought him a sordid form of satisfaction that his enemies still continued to suffer to some extent, that he was not the only one who had to taste the bitterness that came with defeat and the unraveling of all his hard work.  
  
However, at times where he sat upon his throne waiting for the Hero to arrive, or bided his time within the many imprisonments he had endured when he had been _graciously_ spared from death, he had an abnormal amount of time to think. It was only in these moments that he would look back on himself and all that he had accomplished, and would silently and begrudgingly realize that he was, in all reality, the epitome of a failure.

It wasn’t really all his fault, was it? He had been born, destined to be a king of a wasteland and a dying tribe. When all other options had been exhausted, and their more fortunate neighbors continued to be wary of his people and of offering any sort of adequate aid, he had to do something. Perhaps many of his actions had more selfish motivations behind them, but then again how could anyone achieve true greatness without some personal gain being involved? Had he not been so self-motivated in finding a true solution through the power of the Triforce, he highly doubted he would have ever been in possession of his piece today.

When one looked at the big picture, he had achieved a status that was unprecedented, that no other man had ever accomplished in all of Hyrule’s history. Books spoke of the Demon King who rode into Hyrule upon his midnight steed, eyes ablaze and leading a horde of nightmarish monsters. Children were advised to behave, lest their disobedience bring upon them the Goddesses’ displeasure and the wrath of the Dark Lord. Nothing could strike true fear into any living being in existence like the mention of his name, or the evidence of his return. He was a bastion of power, a king in his own right, and an expert in every sort of the dark arts. Not to mention the one that had been chosen to wield Power, a fact he believed was a mark of favour by the Goddesses themselves. He had been fated to wield it, this he was certain of.

However, in times where he had time to truly dwell on his thoughts, he would perhaps laugh at himself. His people had long ago perished, an everlasting mark of evidence to the futility of his quest for the Triforce. The monsters he commanded were either conjured by his own magic, or rallied to his cause by his display of strength, or perhaps their inherent fear of what he would do to them upon their refusal. Despite all his efforts, he never had truly ruled Hyrule, at least not long enough to have considered himself the true king of the land.

For all his strength, his magic, and his pride, he was truly a king of nothing.

With Power blazing on his hand, its intoxicating magic flowing through his very veins to fuel his strength and his ego, it was very hard to accept such a simple fact. Power told him that he was significant, that he was regal, and that the entire world was there for his taking. Power provided him with the means to achieve greatness, and to crush all that opposed him on the rise to the ranks of kingship and godhood. Power, in all its bravado, was a convincing liar, one that always told him that he would succeed despite the evidence of all his failures. It was Power that pushed him forward, made him continue to walk upon this path of destruction and ruination with an overwhelming, and almost comical amount of confidence.

It was in quiet moments, when Power was subdued for a while, that Ganondorf realized that Wisdom would have humbled him. Wisdom would not disguise the truth of his futile efforts, would have shown him that no matter what path he chose, he would walk straight into the jaws of failure, loneliness, and suffering. Wisdom would have told him that all that he had endured, all the pain and longing that he had weathered, was ultimately for nothing. Wisdom would have told him that, for all his destruction and wrath, that he was _nothing_.

He preferred Power to Wisdom, he realized. Power, for all its exaggeration, gave him a sense of worth in this world. Power made him proud, and the king that he knew, _knew_ , he was meant to be. Power told him that he would one day stand as the true victor over his enemies, and granted him the knowledge and experience of past lives so that he never had to start from the bottom. For Power, failure was inconsequential; after all, what was one thousand failures in the face of one, ultimate success?

Ganondorf embraced Power, for Power made every failure worth enduring. He knew deep inside that otherwise, the loss of his people and his subsequent shortcomings that trampled him relentlessly would have crushed his spirit long ago.


End file.
